The fatty listened to Ye Tiancheng, feeling his heart pound with fear. Phoenix, such a powerful divine beast, had turned into a little yellow chicken. This was enough to show that something significant had happened, something that could cause a complete upheaval.
"If even the Phoenix is in trouble, could it be related to Miss Xue'er? She must have suffered a major setback, otherwise, it wouldn't have affected the Phoenix."
The fatty made a valid point. Therefore, they needed to communicate with the Phoenix to find Lin Xue's whereabouts.
Ever since the Phoenix temporarily became Lin Xue's divine beast in the Pure Land, the relationship between master and divine beast had always been intimate. They could find each other instantly without any divine artifacts and were immune to the influence of dark energy.
Therefore, to find Lin Xue, they had to place their hopes on the Phoenix. Only from the Phoenix could they find crucial information about Lin Xue's trail.
Ye Tiancheng and the fatty stared at the little yellow chicken. The current Phoenix was incredibly weak, seemingly having lost a lot of power. Only a faint spiritual energy emanated from its body, insufficient to communicate with them.
"Brother Ye, I can see it. This Phoenix is now a weakling, a weakling that's extremely sleepy and just wants to sleep. We're helpless. Just watching like this, who knows how long it will take. It seems we can only find a way to give it some spiritual energy."
The critical issue was that Ye Tiancheng was also very weak. If it was about spiritual energy, Ye Tiancheng had none. He was extremely anxious at the moment. The problem was that without sufficient strength, even ambition was useless.
"Alright, let's think of a way. I need to cultivate diligently. Fatty, you're responsible for protecting both of us."
"My shovel also has spiritual power, but it's only effective after vanquishing demons and monsters. If it's not absorbed, it will dissipate. I was thinking, if some minor demons came for me to fight, I could help the Phoenix recover its form quickly, instead of it being just a weakling like now."
The fatty's words were blunt but not without reason. It was indeed the case. Not only was an ancient divine beast belittled by him, but the majestic Phoenix was called a weakling. Now, all three of them were weaklings, as their strength didn't allow them any room for pride.
"I have a method. In my storage ring, I once acquired a divine artifact that can summon monsters, though they are all small ones."
Upon hearing Ye Tiancheng's words, the fatty's spirits immediately lifted. After all, he had slept for so long and eaten quite a few potatoes. He was now filled with energy, his eyes wide like copper bells. At this moment, vanquishing demons and monsters was the most suitable activity.
Ye Tiancheng rummaged through his storage ring for a long time and finally found the divine artifact. It was already rusty, clearly having been untouched for a long time, which made it look so strange and unfathomable.
"Something like this, which looks like it's sold in a small market, a rusty ornament, actually has such great efficacy? It's too incredible!"
"It doesn't have much efficacy. I just snatched it from a bully. That bully had sold all his previous divine artifacts. This thing, because its use was disliked by people, couldn't even be sold. It was left on him, and when he came to provoke me, I dealt with him. This divine artifact that can summon demons and monsters is actually an ominous object, so I couldn't use it and kept it in my storage ring."
The fatty took it and examined it closely but couldn't figure anything out. He felt completely bewildered. The ornament was shaped somewhat like a ring, so the fatty directly put it on his hand.
"Brother Ye, I really want to know, how do I use this ring?"
"Hahaha, actually, I don't know either. If only Lin Xue were here. Xue'er reads a lot and has seen all sorts of strange divine artifacts. She would definitely know how to use it."
The fatty tapped the ring and then rambled on incoherently. As a result, the ring showed no reaction at all.
"I suspect this is fake. Hmm, an ominous object should at least be able to summon demons and monsters. I feel this is purely for amusement, completely useless."
"Alright, I'm going to cultivate. You guard me, okay? I'm quite weak when I cultivate. If anything happens, you have to protect me."
The fatty nodded solemnly, agreeing to Ye Tiancheng's request. As Ye Tiancheng entered cultivation, everything became quiet. The little yellow chicken beside them was also sound asleep, likely thinking it was too tired and should rest. The fatty also felt the Phoenix was too weak. He had seen its little yellow chicken state before, but never this weak.
The potatoes in the fatty's stomach began to digest again. After about half an hour, it felt like time had stood still. Honestly, the fatty was getting a bit bored.
When he reached a certain level of boredom, he started thinking about whether he should stir up some trouble. The fatty began to ponder the ring on his hand.
Calling it a ring might be inaccurate, as it looked rather strange, and there weren't any rings this ugly. More accurately, it was like an ornament. Whether worn on the hand or hung around the neck with a string, it was equally ugly, with no discernible difference in hideousness.
"How exactly do you work? Or do you have no effect at all? This is so annoying. It seems you're a fake divine artifact, completely useless."
The fatty muttered to himself, mainly out of boredom. Otherwise, he wouldn't have become like this, talking to himself, which was simply insane.
Suddenly, the ring on his hand vibrated. The fatty clearly felt it but soon found that the ornament had stopped moving. The fatty seriously suspected that it was just his imagination, that nothing had happened, and he was being overly sensitive.
Upon this discovery, the fatty wanted to tell Ye Tiancheng, but he found that Ye Tiancheng had already entered a deep state of cultivation and was completely unresponsive, essentially in a silent state.
"Alright, it seems I was being overly sensitive. Nothing happened; I was just thinking too much."
The fatty started talking to himself again. Perhaps only talking to himself could alleviate his anxiety. Otherwise, how could he explain the ornament on his hand vibrating just now?
The fatty decided to take a nap. Before Ye Tiancheng began cultivating, he had already set up a barrier made of true qi around them. Although it wasn't very stable, if any monsters attacked, there would definitely be a warning. Therefore, the fatty's supposed guarding of Ye Tiancheng would only commence if something happened. Currently, the fatty seemed to have no role.
The fatty had only been lying down for a few minutes when he suddenly felt his hand vibrate a few more times. This strong vibration instantly brought the fatty back to full alertness.
The fatty looked at the ornament on his hand and then muttered softly to himself.
"This time I definitely didn't misfeel it. Are you trying to communicate something to me?"
Even if the ornament was a divine artifact and not a fake, it was still not a talking person. Therefore, it couldn't respond to the fatty's question.
Just then, the fatty suddenly smelled a腥甜 (xīng tián - fishy and sweet) scent. The smell was somewhat familiar, but for a moment, he couldn't quite place it, and it made him feel agitated.
"Brother Ye, I promised I would protect you well. No matter what danger comes, even if I have to risk my life, I will never let you suffer the slightest harm."
The smell gradually became strange. It was no longer just a simple腥甜, but a more eerie sensation. In short, it was very unpleasant. If he smelled it any longer, he might vomit.
At this moment, the ring on his hand vibrated intensely again and also emitted some true qi.
The fatty now understood. It turned out the ornament on his hand had taken effect, and he had inadvertently activated the switch to summon demons and monsters. It was likely due to the fatty's earlier muttering. It seemed this ring could indeed understand words.
Then, centered around the fatty, many ants appeared from all directions. These were not ordinary ants; they were covered in some black energy, though not a large amount, which didn't significantly impact their overall state. Therefore, looking at them as a whole, these ants were coming to their deaths, merely to increase the fatty's experience points. They posed no danger whatsoever. The fatty could easily attack them, practically slaughtering them indiscriminately, as none were his match.
"Good! I didn't expect this rusty old ring of yours to be so powerful. It really summoned demons and monsters for me. Then I'll make my move."
Besides the ring, the fatty also had a bracelet, and he took out the shovel that was always tucked at his waist. Then he began to vanquish demons and monsters. Those ants were no match for the fatty. With a single swing of his shovel, he could kill a large group. After all, the shovel was no ordinary shovel; it contained powerful true qi and was a treasure born to vanquish demons and monsters.
At this critical moment, the bracelet also came into play. The bracelet and the ring actually glowed together. The fatty suddenly realized something: this bracelet and ring were likely a set from the beginning, which had been snatched away by villains, thus separating them. Now that they were reunited, they could unleash immense power.
"I understand. I thought it was because of what I said, but the mechanism that activated the ring was probably the bracelet. Coincidentally, I, the fatty, was wearing the bracelet, which allowed the ring to function. It seems this is all fate."
It seemed even heaven wanted him to win. The fatty charged forward, feeling incredibly exhilarated. Soon, a ground covered in ant corpses stuck to the ground, impossible to remove even with a shovel. This was true instant annihilation. As the slaughter progressed, the shovel absorbed a large amount of spiritual energy, which the fatty directly transferred to the little yellow chicken.